I’ve been playing around with DeepDreamGenerator’s newish “text prompt” artificial intelligence image creator. This image was generated from the prompt “A steampunk spaceship in the style of Leonardo da Vinci.”

Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, and Debt:

Nigeria Limits Cash Withdrawals to $45 per Day in CBDC, Digital Banking Push

Nothing to see here. Move along folks. (thanks to @antisocialist for the head’s up)

Twitter’s makeshift hotel rooms show just how broken US work culture is.

The Mass Unbanning at Twitter Begins

Thousands of previously banned Twitter users, including members of the far-right and users sharing blatant misinformation, have begun to have their accounts restored to the platform.

Remote-Work Revolution Has Wiped Out $453 Billion In Commercial Real Estate Value

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

Does China Have Covid Under Control?

In keeping with its flawed recent handling of the virus, the answer is surely that it does not. The official tally of cases is falling, but that is probably because people are being tested less often. Not long ago the aim was to suppress every infection chain. Today social media suggest that an alarming and rapidly growing number of Chinese people know someone who has caught the disease.
If the virus is indeed spreading, watch out. Once Omicron gets going, it burns through a population like a forest fire. It may now move especially fast in China, because the virus spreads more easily during winter.

Congressional Report Highlights Trump’s Pandemic Failings

The committee’s majority staff said they endeavored to unpack why, from early on, the federal government appeared unprepared to address the pandemic — and why the Trump administration failed to adequately respond, while exerting partisan influence to exploit public health messaging as a political football.

Politics:

Criminal Referrals Mulled for Four Besides Trump

The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection is considering criminal referrals for at least four individuals in addition to former President Donald Trump.
The panel is weighing criminal referrals for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, right wing lawyer John Eastman, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Jan. 6 committee’s referrals may ‘stiffen the spine’ of prosecutors

Of Course Trump Was Hoarding MORE Classified Documents

Inside Herschel Walker’s Doomed Campaign

Said one GOP strategist: “This is what you get when you have a candidate who threatened women, stalked them, paid them to have abortions, said crazy things and has an adversarial relationship with the English language.”

Ukrainian Nobel Peace Prize winner calls for war crimes tribunal for Putin and Russian military leaders

The prisoner exchange deal that's bringing Brittney Griner home would be even better if Donald Trump were being sent back to Russia.

— Middle Age Riot (@middleageriot) December 8, 2022

Biden to announce federal bailout for troubled union pension fund

There are a lot of dubiously-funded pension funds out there. I expect there will be a line forming for bailouts.

The Supreme Court’s Most Conservative Justices Got Humiliated on Wednesday

Justice Department asks judge to hold Trump team in contempt over Mar-a-Lago case

The request came after months of mounting frustration from the Justice Department with the former president’s lawyers.

Gosar Deleted Anti-Constitution Tweet Because ‘Low IQ People’ Were Unable To Comprehend It

Jim Jordan Tells Awkward Lie When Asked To Denounce Tweet Shouting Out Ye

Notorious cartel hit man disappears from US prison system, leaving Mexico dumbfounded

Did he talk a lot, rat out nasties further up the food chain, cut a deal, and go into the WITSEC program? Pure speculation or course, but, if so, a stab in the back to Mexico.

Serendipity:

’Burn everything’: Poland chokes on the smog of war

Police Keep Violating the U.S. Constitution With Illegal Traffic Stops

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